Deals of the Day: Break Up China’s Banks

Deals of the Day compiles this morning’s biggest news about mergers and acquisitions, banking, bankruptcy and more. Catch us on Twitter, @WSJDealJournal.

Mergers & Acquisitions

US Airways/American: US Airways has told some American Airlines creditors that merging the two carriers could yield more than $1.5 billion a year in added revenue and cost savings. [WSJ]

GDF Suez-International Power: GDF Suez and International Power engaged in a war of nerves, as the U.K. company rejected GDF’s GBP6 billion bid for the shares it doesn’t already own, and the French utility reacted to this rebuttal by warning it could walk away. [Dow Jones Newswires]

Coty-Avon: While Coty Inc. is much smaller than Avon, the wounded prey it is stalking, its leaders have ties to one of Germany’s wealthiest families. [WSJ]Related: Avon cut the compensation for outgoing Chief Executive Andrea Jung by 23% in 2011, denying her a bonus or salary increase due to slower than expected results. [WSJ]

StarBev: Molson Coors agreed to buy European brewer StarBev from CVC Capital in a deal valued at $3.54 billion, edging out several global rivals interested in the business. [WSJ]

Financial Instiutions

Break up the banks: Chinese Premier Wen told a national audience that China’s state-controlled banks are a “monopoly” that must be broken up. [WSJ]

Credit Suisse & ratings: Fitch Group’s new CEO said Credit Suisse dropped the firm’s rating from a mortgage-backed security because Fitch took a harsher view than two rivals that assigned triple-A ratings to the deal. [WSJ]

Wall Street pay: Most Wall Street employees got higher salaries in 2011, with the biggest bumps going to those at boutique banks and alternative asset managers, according to a survey by eFinancialCareers.com. [Bloomberg]

Legal & Regulatory

SEC: The inquiry into ownership and other ties to exchanges is part of a broader probe into whether high-speed traders have unfair advantages over other investors. [WSJ]

Oversight process for nonbanks: U.S. regulators finalized the process they will use to sort out which nonbank financial companies merit tougher oversight, the last step before they can formally identify which firms pose a threat to the U.S. financial system. [WSJ]

Judge Rakoff: “The SEC, of all agencies, has a duty, inherent in its statutory mission, to see that the truth emerges.” [Bloomberg]

Capital Markets

Burger King: The company will become a public company again through a complex deal with an investment fund co-owned by William Ackman. [WSJ]

Buyside

Hedge funds go on attack in India: Western hedge funds are turning to activist tactics that have not often been tried in India. The moves may mark the beginning of a more confrontational period between foreign investors and Indian companies. [WSJ]

Companies & Industries

Facebook: The company fired back at Yahoo in the companies’ continuing patent dispute, filing a counterclaim that ratchets up tension in the case. [WSJ]

Dodgers: The new owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers will need more than great play on the field to justify the record $2.15 billion they paid for the baseball team. They may need to transform the real estate surrounding Dodger Stadium into a money maker, succeeding where their predecessors failed. [Bloomberg]

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About Deal Journal

Deal Journal is an up-to-the-minute take on the deals and deal makers that shape the landscape of Wall Street, including mergers and acquisitions, capital-raising, private equity and bankruptcy. In short, wherever money changes hands. Deal Journal is updated throughout each trading day with exclusive commentary, analysis, data, news flashes and profiles. The Wall Street Journal’s David Benoit is the lead writer, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Send news items, comments and questions to deals@wsj.com.